The wage canard, once again...

"The protesters wanted the Minneapolis City Council to have this question put on the November election. In a rare moment of clarity, the Council said 'no'." 

Today, I am going to try and tie a couple of tidbits in together which will show what a canard this entire wage issue is in Minneapolis. Just as a refresher, the professional protesting crowd have been marching and picketing to get wages up to $15/hour for unskilled work. And why not? That seems like a round number to me.

The protesters wanted the Minneapolis City Council to have this question put on the November ballot. In a rare moment of clarity, the Council said "no". The protesters then turned to one of the dozens of left leaning, soapy judges we have hanging around here to have this reversed. Sure enough, the judge sided with the protesters. Now it is game on. 

Now I will attempt to tie a couple of items together to show the folly of this movement.

Item One - Yesterday I had an afternoon meeting, so I had some noontime chores to do before it started. While out and about, I decided to stop at White Castle for a slider or two. When I got there, the drive though line was long and slow. No such thing as fast food anymore. Why? Steady help is hard to find these days. Anyhow, when I finally got up to the window to order, there was a huge sign which read, "Help wanted - up to $16/hour."

Wow! That is even better than Burger King hiring up to $15/hour! Wait a minute - if some places are already hiring at $15 or $16 an hour (and still can't get enough help), what is all the hullabaloo about? Why does the wage thing need to be on the ballot or have a nosy judge interfere with this? Seems like market forces are taking care of business (so to speak).

Item Two - Last week when I was outside listening to the radio, a commercial came on about a new franchise opportunity. You could buy a kiosk which would sell "made to order" yogurt. A customer could walk up to the kiosk to place an order, the yogurt would be prepared, the customer would pay, and then receive the product which was ordered. And not with one human hand involved. Total automation. No $15/hour, no unions, no paid sick days, nada. 

If you are paying attention, you can see more and more automation creeping into the food industry. Makes sense. And the calculus for investment seems to make much more sense the higher wages go. Simple economics. The price of automation = down. The price of wages = up. Easy choice for those who choose to stay in business.

Here is the bottom line. For those who wish to be employed today and have a job with a future, get an education or skill. And not any old education or skill - look over the horizon ans see what is going to be in demand 5 or 10 years down the road.

If you choose to remain unskilled, you do so at your own peril. The number of unskilled jobs which pay a decent wage are going down every year. And I don't care what a City Council says, what a judge says, or even what the electorate might say on a referendum - facts are facts, and market forces are market forces. Just saying...